Today I viewed Wally Herger”s opening statement to the annual MedPAC Report to Congress on health care. As a baby boomer and Blue Cross PPO member, health care is a high priority for me and all Americans. This is especially a dire concern since America is the only industrial nation where citizens lose their homes and life savings when major illnesses occur.

There is fraud and abuse in Medicaid programs like MedPAC reported because (small government mentality) politicians underfund the enforcement agencies which would prevent this from occurring. The (small government mentality) politician”s philosophy of “self-regulation” is a fallacy as the current Wall Street debacle has just proven.

Hospitals and physicians would receive appropriate payments instead of underpayments by Medicaid if we paid them instead of the (middleman) private health insurance companies that receive billions of dollars for denying patients needed treatment. We need a fair and equitable health care system like Canada, United Kingdom and France for all Americans, not just the rich ones.

We can stop the fraud and abuse in Medicaid and Medicare by properly staffing these government agencies and investing in Americans instead of the Wall Street Health Insurance Corporation (Insurance Corporations that we are bailing out like AIG) that deny us benefits and treatment.